The Maple Leafs travelled from Pittsburgh to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Sunday.

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The Leafs are feeling a little lighter as they fly to Florida on Sunday to continue their road trip.

“It’s been a long time coming, right,” said forward Max Domi following Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. “I think it does nothing but build a lot of confidence for our group, and we needed that.”

It was the team’s first regulation win since Nov. 5 when they beat the Utah Mammoth in Toronto.

“Nice to score a couple goals and win with quite a big lead, which we haven’t done in a long time,” said winger William Nylander. “It’s nice, and [we can] build some confidence here on the road trip.”

Time and time again the word “confidence” came up as the Leafs players and coach Craig Berube addressed the media following the game.

“That can be a confidence booster,” said winger Dakota Joshua. “We’ve got to take that momentum and keep it going to string a couple together here.”

The Leafs have not won consecutive games since opening November with three straight victories. They entered Saturday’s game on a 2-6-2 skid, which saw them tumble down to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Toronto sits in 15th place even after Saturday’s win.

It’s not just the win that had the Leafs excited on Saturday night, but the way it happened.

“We talked about puck possession, a little more playmaking, and we did that,” said Berube. “So a lot more entries and making some things happen and got rewarded for it.”

The Leafs are now 2-1-0 on this season-long road swing, which will wrap up with games in Sunrise, Fla. on Tuesday and Raleigh on Thursday.

“They’re going to feel good about themselves, and that’s good,” Berube said of his players. “We’ve just got to build off it. We’ve got to keep getting better, though. There’s things that we can do better, and we’ve got to keep working on it. That’s all part of it. But I really like the way we moved the puck better. We possessed the puck more, which is good.”

Toronto will get back to work with a practice on Monday in Florida before facing the defending Stanley Cup champions for the first time since the Panthers’ Game 7 blowout win in Toronto.

‘A long time coming’: Lopsided win is ‘confidence booster’ for Leafs The Leafs earned their first regulation win since Nov. 5 on Saturday by thumping the Penguins 7-2. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Max Domi. “It does nothing but build a lot of confidence.” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby credited the Leafs for being opportunistic.

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Domi returned to the lineup after sitting out Friday’s game in Washington as a healthy scratch, which was his first such benching since joining the Leafs.

“Not going to answer anything about that,” he said. “That’s behind us now. We’ll focus on the win, it was huge, and go from there.”

Domi, who slotted back in on the top line beside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, let his play do the talking on Saturday as he produced two primary assists.

“He played great,” said Nylander. “I mean, two nice plays on those goals. And that’s what happens when you get scratched, you come back with maybe, you know, a little bit more fire. He did a great job.”

Domi snapped a six-game point drought and posted only his second multi-point effort of the season.

“Max was a lot better,” said Berube. “Made some nice plays, but he was engaged in the game, just on some forechecks, taking the body, winning the puck battle, just defensively working back to our zone, breaking plays up. You know, he was good.”

“I think as a line, we played good,” said Domi. “Created a lot. Obviously, Auston had a big goal there. Had a lot of good looks in the O-zone.”

Matthews scored his first goal since returning from a five-game injury absence earlier in the week.

Domi is up to eight points in 24 games this season.

‘Not going to answer anything about that’: Domi lets play do talking after first Leafs scratch Max Domi sat out as a healthy scratch on Friday for the first time in his Leafs career. “Not going to answer anything about that,” the veteran forward said. Instead, Domi let his play do the talking on Saturday with two primary assists.

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In his second game back from being a healthy scratch, Joshua played his best game with the Leafs. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound winger scored a goal, landed a big hit, and drew a penalty.

Joshua was involved in the game throughout the night.

“I mean, that’s my goal every night, and to finally have a game like that feels nice,” he said. “It’s just making an impact in any way possible and just fortunate to get one to go there. But, yeah, I try to be involved all over the ice.”

Joshua hammered Penguins defenceman Mathew Dumba with a big open-ice bodycheck in the first period.

“We want to come out and be physical every game,” said Joshua. “So to have something line up like that, it’s nice. It feels good to get involved early … It was just kind of a situation where they were coming out [of the zone] so it was either pull back and kind of wedge it or go through him, and I went through him on that one.”

Joshua recorded a team-high seven hits on Saturday.

In the second period, Joshua created a screen that helped Bobby McMann score via a deflection.

Minutes later Joshua scored a goal of his own, which snapped a 14-game drought. Joshua’s only other goals this season came at the end of October when he lit the lamp in back-to-back games against the Buffalo Sabres.

Joshua ended the second period by drawing a penalty on Bryan Rust courtesy a strong drive to the net.

‘To finally have a game like that feels nice’: Big hit helps Joshua gets Leafs career on track Dakota Joshua scored for the first time since Oct. 25 on Saturday and in the process snapped a nine game point drought. The Leafs winger also landed a big hit and drew a penalty against the Penguins. “To finally have a game like that feels nice,” he said.

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Nylander returned to the lineup after missing Friday’s game due to an illness.

“I felt fine,” he said after Saturday’s win. “I mean, okay this morning. I knew I was going to play this morning.”

What was he dealing with the last 48 hours?

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he said.

Nylander produced a beautiful assist on the goal by Easton Cowan in the first period, which put the Leafs up 2-1. Nylander froze Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs and gave Cowan an open net to shoot at.

“If William Nylander comes down by the hash marks, like, loading for a one timer, I think every goalie in the league will freeze,” said Leafs goalie Dennis Hildeby. “But, yeah, it was a great, great pass, and that’s just what he does, I guess.”

Nylander finished second in goals last season with 45, but has been more of a playmaker so far this year with 21 assists in 21 games.

Nylander, who also missed Thursday’s practice for maintenance, leads the team with 32 points. He’s only been held off the scoresheet in two games all year.

Nylander logged more than 19 minutes on Saturday.

“Willy’s a gamer,” Berube said. “I mean, he’s not going to miss too many games if he can help it. Like, he got it through it, and I thought he did a lot of good things with the puck.”

‘Nothing you need to worry about’: Nylander shows ‘gamer’ quality in return from illness After missing Friday’s game due to an illness, William Nylander returned to the Leafs lineup on Saturday in Pittsburgh and produced a beautiful primary assist. “Willy’s a gamer,” said coach Craig Berube. “He got it through it.”

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The only negative development on Saturday night was an upper-body injury sustained by defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

“I’m hoping he’s fine,” said Berube. “I don’t know yet … I think he’ll be okay, but we’ll see.”

Ekman-Larsson only played three shifts in the third period.

“He said he’s fine to me,” Nylander revealed.

Losing Ekman-Larsson for any period of time would be a big blow for the Leafs, who are leaning heavily on the 34-year-old.

“He brings a lot,” said Berube. “O is a versatile guy back there for us. He’s playing the right [side as a lefty]. He moves around, plays with different partners … He plays physical, and he’s got a good stick, and he provides offence. He’s got a good shot and can make plays.”

Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring on Saturday night and also added an assist to extend his career-long point streak to nine games.

With 20 points, Ekman-Larsson leads all Swedish defencemen in scoring this season. How much consideration does he deserve for Sweden’s Olympic team?

“A lot,” said Nylander. “I mean, he’s been playing great, so just got to keep it up.”

Ekman-Larsson, who did not crack Sweden’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, leads the team’s defence with a plus-six mark despite playing his off side.

Leafs’ Ekman-Larsson extends point streak, strengthens Olympic bid before injury scare Oliver Ekman-Larsson extended his point streak to a career long nine games on Saturday and now leads all Swedish defencemen in scoring with 20 points. Ekman-Larsson sustained an upper-body injury late in the game, but told William Nylander he will be fine.

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Domi believes playing against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin brought out the best in the Leafs.

“I think no matter who it is in here, you always get up for guys like that,” Domi said. “I think that kind of drives some energy in here. And, overall, we literally had everyone going.”

What was it like for Hildeby to face Crosby and Malkin for the very first time?

“And Erik Karlsson,” the 24-year-old Swede said with a big smile. “That was a lot of fun, just seeing them. We had some good success against them too, which makes it even more fun.”

Crosby did beat Hildeby with a third-period goal, but the 6-foot-7 goalie stopped 33 of 35 shots overall, including six off the stick of Malkin.

“Every time we needed a save, he came up with one,” said Joshua. “He stood tall for us back there.”

Hildeby was making just his third NHL start of the season and first since Nov. 13.

“He really looked calm,” Berube observed. “Not playing for a while, you know, he looked really calm.”

Hildeby received the team’s player-of-the-game belt following his first win of the season.

Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz have taken turns carrying the load for the Leafs in net. When Woll missed the start of the season due to personal leave, Stolarz started 12 of 15 games. Woll started six straight games after returning to the lineup with Saturday his first night off. Stolarz is not with the team on the road and remains “a ways away” from returning from an upper-body injury, per Berube.

All of Hildeby’s starts so far have come on the second half of a back-to-back. The Leafs don’t play on consecutive nights again until Dec. 20-21. Has Hildeby earned another start before then?

“We’ll see where our goaltending situation is, but for sure,” Berube said. “He’s a young guy, but he’s grown in a year for me a lot, you know. Like, even coming into camp this year, I thought he had a real good camp and got a good future ahead of him.”

Hildeby has a .914 save percentage in six games this season, including three relief appearances.

Hildeby wins first game against Crosby, Karlsson Pens; is he earning more Leafs starts? Dennis Hildeby stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn his first NHL win of the season on Saturday. The 6-foot-7 Swede relished the chance to play Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and countryman Erik Karlsson for the first time. Coach Craig Berube was asked if Hildeby is making a case for more playing time.

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Nick Robertson had Hildeby laughing with some good-natured chirping during the goalie’s media session.

“He’s trying to imitate my language,” said a smiling Hildeby, who has a deep voice and deliberate delivery while speaking in his second language. “He’s funny, eh?”

Robertson also scored on Saturday night. Facing off against Crosby, who was his childhood idol, is always special.

“I just remember the first time playing against him,” Robertson said before Saturday’s game. “I knew this guy my whole childhood so I’m like, ‘I’m going to give him a cross-check,’ and I went to give him one and kind of went back on my feet and didn’t realize how strong he was.”

Robertson, who is represented by the same agent as Crosby, was gifted a stick by No. 87 last month when the Penguins came to Toronto. He plans to keep it back at his home in Michigan.

“Tucked away where no one can take it,” said Robertson with a smile.

NHL: Maple Leafs 7, Penguins 2 Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to a career-best nine games, Auston Matthews, Nicolas Roy and Bobby McMann also had a goal and an assist, and Dennis Hildeby made 33 saves as the Maple Leafs thumped the Penguins and won in regulation for the first time since November 5th.

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Leafs lines in Saturday’s game:

Knies – Matthews – Domi

Cowan – Tavares – Nylander

Joshua – Roy – McMann

Lorentz – Laughton – Robertson

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson

McCabe – Stecher

Mermis – Myers

Hildeby

Woll